Live to Skate, Skate to Thrive: How the Wounded Knee 4-Directions Skatepark has empowered youth and uplifted a community
By Kalie Swails
Pine Ridge, S.D.—The new Wounded Knee 4-Directions Skatepark in Pine Ridge, S.D. was once an open field and a rundown tennis court.
Drug dealers parked their cars in the trees lining the periphery. Youth scoffed at the idea of tennis, a game which, to them, represented elitism in an area of abject poverty. Most days, they discarded the tennis net to skateboard on the court’s smooth surface instead.
Today the Wounded Knee 4-Directions Skatepark is the pulse of the Youth Opportunity, or “YO,” park, uniting the Oglala Lakota Nation powwow grounds, a picnic area, a playground, a basketball court and a baseball diamond.
The skatepark was dedicated as the Toby Eagle Bull Memorial on October 15, in memory of a young skater from the reservation who passed away tragically in a car accident in 2002.
With the help of Oglala Lakota advertising designer and graphic artist, Walt Pourier and his Colorado-based organization, The Stronghold Society, the WK4D Skatepark received such an enthusiastic response of donations and funding that it is one of the largest parks in South Dakota. It has ranges from 6 to 13 feet across, three bowls and several jumps and rails, providing a near professional grade environment for both beginner and experienced skaters in the Pine Ridge area.
Members of the Pine Ridge community, including a large number of youth, were intricately involved in the skatepark’s construction. They assisted laborers, cleared debris and helped dig the bowls. When the only wheelbarrow on site broke, youth removed dirt bucket by bucket.
Those involved in the skatepark’s construction seem to have become as much a part of the skatepark as it has become of them.
At any given time of the day since the park’s opening, one easily finds five to 50 young people at the skatepark, perfecting old tricks and learning new ones. Joe “Crazy” Mesteth can be spotted dropping into the bowl with his headphones on, half his face painted in the traditional Lakota colors of black, red, yellow and white. Even those who do not skate are drawn to the park, where they visit friends, pick up any trash and sweep away dirt and rocks.
“Because kids helped build it, they’ve got a lot more respect for this place,” said Mike Patton, 28, a screen print artist who grew up on the reservation. “I think being a part of [the building process] made kids value the park a whole lot more. Even people who don’t skate come here just to keep the place clean.”
Patton said the presence of the skatepark in the community has cultivated good qualities in young people, especially those who are now mentored by older, more experienced skaters. He feels the growing Lakota skate culture movement has empowered youth and made the skatepark a safe, family-friendly place in the Pine Ridge community.
“I imagine there’s going to be a bigger generation of Lakota skateboarders in Pine Ridge that are really capable and really good skaters,” said Leroy Janis, 25, who also grew up on the reservation and has been skateboarding for 11 years.
Janis said the skatepark represents hope and opportunity for reservation youth.
“It’s really great that it’s come this far because it does mean a lot to a lot of us. [We] put our time and our desire into this place, even when it wasn’t nothing, so it’s really awesome that we have people that want us to have something better,” he said. “I think that’s a really positive thing that somebody cares.”
Melanie White Eyes, who aided in and photographed the new skatepark’s construction, said she has seen the skatepark make a dramatic impact on reservation youth. White Eyes said many young people who used to spend their free time smoking, drinking or graffiting their neighborhoods now hang out at the Wounded Knee 4-Directions Skatepark, which keeps them out of trouble.
“It’s good to see kids have something to do,” she said. “It’s awesome to see that change in the community.”
White Eyes said youth go to the skatepark every day after school and that, in the short time since the park’s opening, innumerable young people have become better skaters day by day.
“From here, we just plan to make the rez a better place for children… Thanks to the Stronghold Society, we’ve got a place like this…”
The Stronghold Society’s call to action was inspired and embodied by the Lakota word “skan,” interpreted as “something that moves.”
Skan is palpable in the Wounded Knee 4-Directions Skatepark. It is in the jumps, the rails and the bowls. It is in the smiles of skaters old and new. The spirit will be there today and it will be there tomorrow, no matter the day, weather or time.
Photos by David Michaud
